PhD, Associate professor V.P. Simen'
Dr.Hab., Professor G.L. Drandrov
Chuvash State Pedagogical University n.a. I.Ya. Yakovlev, Cheboksary

Keywords: elite kettlebell lifters, physical development, physical fitness, competitive success, correlation

Introduction

It is the education/ training process design and management based on the guiding physical development (PD) and physical fitness (PF) rating analyses that is considered one of the key factors of competitive success in elite sports.

Modern sport science offers a set of cardiovascular [2] and respiratory [6] system performance indicators and the physical development [7] and physical fitness [3, 4] rates for elite kettlebell lifters’ performance control purposes. In the previous study we identified the guiding PD and PF rates of elite lifters classified by the athletic training process stages [5]. The issue of the PD and PF rates correlation with the competitive success (CS) rates in the elite kettlebell lifting sport, however, appears to be still open for research and needs to be studied in more detail.

Objective of the study was to find correlations of the elite kettlebell lifters’ competitive success rates versus the physical development and fitness rates.

Methodology and structure of the study. Subject to the study were 29 lifters of 18-34 years of age, including 26 Maters of Sport, 1 World Class Master of Sport and 2 Honoured Masters of Sport of Russia. The PD rates of the subjects, including body-weight ratio; body, shoulder and hand lengths; width of pelvis; vital capacity (VC); and wrist and body dynamometric data were obtained using the V.V. Bunak’s method [1]. The PF rates including the squat-stand; bench-press; and lean-forward rates were obtained using the generally accepted standard methodology. Subject to analysis were the competitive success rates of the athletes at the 2014 Russian Cup. A linear correlation calculation method was used to obtain the CS rate versus the PD/ PF rate correlations.

Study results and discussion. Given in Table 1 hereunder are the study results that may be interpreted as indicative of the fact that it is the athletes with higher body-weight ratio that show notably higher competitive success rates in jerk (r = 0.421) and snatch (r = 0.472) exercises.

Table 1. Correlations of elite kettlebell lifters’ (n=29) competitive success rates versus physical development and physical fitness rates

Note: *p ≤ 0.05 at r = 0.37; **p ≤ 0.01 at r = 0.47

The body height/ weight rate is known to be in indirect correlation with the relevant muscular mass of the body; so the higher is the rate the normally higher is the strength generated by the kettlelifter in the 10-minute time assigned for the lifting exercises in competitions.

Furthermore, the high competitive success rates were found to be in a trend-level correlation with the relative shoulder length rates (r = 0.323). We believe that the relatively long shoulders will provide an additional support to the lifter in jerk exercise in the starting position prior to the kettlebell being pushed up off the chest; and the lifter may relax muscles for some time to give them a short rest to recover and remobilize the strength capacity.

The study found a positive trend-level correlation of the lifters’ competitive success rates in the jerk (r = 0.218) and snatch (r = 0.278) exercises with the relative pelvis width values. The athlete having a wider pelvis can generally make strong double-leg-push and squat-and-stand moves in the snatch kettlebell lifting exercise. Moreover, the relatively wider pelvis in jerk exercise performance gives a broader support base for the weightlifting moves as the athlete may rest his elbows on the iliac bones. Such bodily setting is apparently facilitative for the following motor actions: (1) Relaxing arms and body muscles in the weight downing phase; (2) Holding the weight on the chest; and 3) Speeding up the weight in the press phase.

Furthermore, the competitive success rates of the lifters in the jerk exercise were found to be in negative correlation with the vital capacity index (r = -0.400). It should be noted in this context that lifters will sharply exhale in the high-stress phases of the lifting sequence and inhale in the relaxation phases, with additional respiration cycles normally occurring in the static postures albeit the external respiration is always constrained due to the weight pressing onto the chest in the down position.

The competitive success rates in the jerk exercise were found to negatively correlate with the relevant strength rates of the wrist (r = - 0.387). This may be explained by the fact that the elite lifters hold the kettlebell freely with the wrist muscles being unstrained and the handles lying on the palm base closer to the wrist joint rather than fingers, and this is the case for the whole movement: in the starting position prior to the press; in the lifted weight fixing move; and in the weight downing to the chest move. The lifters unskilled in this weight holding element tend to hold the weight with the wrist muscles being additionally stressed and this is the reason why their wrist dynamometric rates are normally higher. However, it gives them no advantage in competitive exercises in fact.

It is the relevant length of the wrist that was found to be in expressed positive correlation (r = 0.357) with the competitive success rate in the snatch exercise. It may be due to the long wrists being advantageous for holding the kettlebell handles in the snatch performance. The lifters having longer wrists may take an overlapping hold of the handle with the thumb covering the index finger and long finger or at least the first one. This hold allows, on the one hand, to firmly hold the weight and, on the other hand, to release the little finger, ring finger and partially the long finger from the load to keep them ready for taking over the workload after recovery.

The competitive success rate in the snatch exercise was found to be in a positive correlation (r = 0.303) with the flexibility rates. It is a matter of common knowledge that flexible joints are imperative for:

– Leg push move as the low joint flexibility rates give no way for the legs being duly straightened in the ankle and knee joints in the push completion phase;

– Squat move as the inadequately flexible ankle joints force the lifter to rise his heels off the floor thereby untimely and unnecessarily stressing the shin muscles prior to the main work phase; whilst the athletes having the higher spine/ shoulder flexibility rates may perform optimally deep squats due to the knee joints being bent moderately and, hence, the load being distributed evenly as some part of the load is shifted to the body extensors to reload the shin and thigh extensors; and

– Weight fixing move as the inadequately flexible shoulder and elbow joints make it difficult to fix the weight due to the antagonistic muscles being overextended and, hence, more exposed to muscular overstrain and fatigue.

Conclusion

The correlation analysis of the elite kettlebell lifters’ competitive success rates versus the physical development and physical fitness rates shows that advantageous in the competitive jerk exercise are higher height/ weight rate, relative width of shoulders and relative width of pelvis; and in the snatch exercise these are higher height/ weight rate, relative length of wrist, relative width of pelvis and flexibility rate. 

References

1. Bunak V.V. Antropometriya: prakticheskiy kurs: posobie dlya un-tov (Anthropometry: Practical course: university study guide) / V.V. Bunak. – Moscow: Uchpedgiz, 1941.
2. Dobrovol'skiy A.S. Issledovanie chastoty serdechnykh sokrashcheniy sportsmenov-girevikov vo vremya trenirovki po metodu povtornogo uprazhneniya s ubyvayushchim intervalom otdykha (Study of heart rate of kettlebell lifters during training using the method of repeated exercise with shorter rest interval) / A.S. Dobrovol'skiy, O.V. Galushenko // Meditsinskiy vestnik Yuga Rossii (Medical bulletin of the South of Russia). – 2013. – № 2 (12). – P. 49–54.
3. Lopatin E.V. Obshchaya fizicheskaya vynoslivost' i vozmozhnosti ee razvitiya v girevom sporte (General physical endurance and its development potential in kettlebell lifting) / E.V. Lopatin, S.L. Rudnev // Girevoy sport v Rossii, puti razvitiya i sovremennye tekhnologii v podgotovke sportsmenov vysokogo klassa sb. mater. I Vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf. (Kettlebell sport in Russia, development trends of modern elite athlete training technology: Proc. of I Russian res.-pract. conf) – Rostov-on/D: RSUCE, 2003. – P. 64–68.
4. Prontenko K.V. Trebovaniya k razvitiyu osnovnykh fizicheskikh kachestv sportsmenov, kotorye spetsializiruyutsya v girevom sporte (Requirements for development of basic physical qualities of kettlebell lifters) / K.V. Prontenko, V.V. Prontenko, T.G. Kirichenko // Pedagogiko-psikhologicheskie i mediko-biologicheskie problemy fizicheskogo vospitaniya i sporta (Pedagogics, psychology, medical-biological problems of physical training and sports). – 2007. – № 6. – P. 235–238.
5. Simen' V.P. Model'nye kharakteristiki fizicheskogo razvitiya i fizicheskoy podgotovlennosti girevikov (Model characteristics of physical development and physical fitness of kettlebell lifters) / V.P. Simen', G.L. Drandrov // Pedagogiko-psikhologicheskie i mediko-biologicheskie problemy fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta (Pedagogics, psychology, medical-biological problems of physical training and sports). – 2013. – № 1 (26). – P. 181–187.
6. Tikhonov V.F. Vzaimosvyaz' reaktsii opory i pnevmogramm dykhaniya u sportsmenov-girevikov v fizicheskikh uprazhneniyakh (Relationship between support reaction and breathing pneumograms of kettlebell lifters during exercises) / V.F. Tikhonov // Aktual'nye problemy teorii i metodiki girevogo sporta: sb. nauch. statey (Actual problems of theory and methodology of kettlebell lifting: Collected res. papers); ed. by V.P. Simen'. – Cheboksary: ChSPU, 2013. – P. 49–55.

Corresponding author: simen.vladimir@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to find correlations of the elite kettlebell lifters’ competitive success rates versus their physical development and fitness indicators. Subject to the study were 29 lifters including 26 Masters of Sport of Russia, 1 World Class Master of Sport and 2 Honoured Masters of Sport of Russia. The study data and analysis showed the athletes’ competitive success rates in the jerk exercise being in correlation with their physical development rates including body-weight ratio, relative length of shoulder and the relative width of pelvis; and that in snatch exercise correlating with body-weight ratio, relative hand length, relative width of pelvis and flexibility rate.